Letters in the Tablet

I do look at the Tablet each week. I particularly make a point of turning to the letters page to see what is going on. This week the first letters are published under the heading `Rites new and old`. The first is from Fr Kevin Pelham who writes:

I am nonplussed, particularly, that the desire of this group to restore to regular use the 1962 edition of the Tridentine Missal has been totally unmatched by any similar desire to restore the 1961 edition of the Tridentine Breviary! Surely a format of the Mass, especially if and when it is imposed by the celebrant against the wishes of at least some of the attending congregation, should be parallelled by a similar format of their individual prayer.

This raises quite a lot of points. The main one is the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman breviary. I completely agree with Fr Pelham that a celebrant with a desire to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Roman missal should also want to celebrate the same version of the breviary. However most of those parish clergy who celebrate the extraordinary form do not do so every day and most of their Masses will be in the ordinary form, so sticking to the ordinary form breviary makes more sense in regard to the calendar and general spirit of the thing.

However regular readers of this blog will recall that I have indeed switched to saying the breviary in the EF. This has been a Very Good Thing. I find it far more prayerful and discover that the psalms become more a part of one`s life when they are said so much more often. Having a weekly cycle of psalms gives a deeper grounding and identification with them than the four week cycle I find. It is easier to remember what psalms occur say on a Monday morning than on the third Monday of a four week cycle.

Since Fr Pelham`s email address was printed under his letter I wrote to him to say that I hope his letter does give food for thought to those clergy who like the EF and that they will indeed adopt the EF breviary. As for it being `totally unmatched` etc this just isn`t true. I know quite a few who say the EF breviary and it was a priest of our diocese who gave me a great incentive to do so when I saw him using it and asked him a few questions about the practicality of doing so. Fr Tim Finigan has an item about it today too. I agree with him over the pared down nature of the 1962 form and wish there were more nocturnes so we could have more patristic input at matins but that may come in the future development of the rite.

The next letter by a James Anderson of London gives heart as he describes himself as `one of a growing number of Catholics in the UK who had until recently experienced only the ordinary form of the Mass, but who has lately come to know and love the extraordinary form.`

He adds:

`The extraordinary form does not yield its fruit easily, requiring preparation, concentration and a certain inner stillness in order for the layperson to participate fully`

Another letter under the heading `Music at Mass` by Kevin Mayhew, the music publisher, is written in defence of the awful `clapping Gloria` and Israeli Mass on the grounds that lots of people like them. This is in reply to John Ainslie, the chairman of the Society of St Gregory, who suggests that when the new translations of the Mass come out only those musical settings which stick to the proper texts will be allowed. I hope Mr Ainslie is right. The practice of substituting other texts for the official ones all adds to the frame of mind of `It doesn`t really matter` which is widespread and I think partly responsible for our decline. I intend to write about this in an another post.

Just the usual

A bishop for whom I had a lot of respect once told me that he got complaints about liturgical abuse but when he investigated them he found they were without substance. I said I was glad to hear that was the case but I had seen plenty. Unfortunately that bishop is no longer with us but here are a few abuses, which I found on gloria.tv, to be going on with. My question is are these people `inexorably distancing themselves from the Church` and can we look forward to something being done about it?

Archbishop Nichols and the Tablet again

I have just read the post `The Nichols Odeon` on the Sensible Bond blog on this theme. I would recommend this post for its analysis of the archbishop`s statements about the extraordinary form. Thanks Ches.

FSSP retreat for priests in Ars and Lyon 2010

I was very happy to get this news by email yesterday. Having enjoyed the retreat at Douai abbey this year I will be making every effort to support Fr de Malleray`s next venture for priests.



Dates:
Depart Monday morning 8 February 2010 from the UK, arriving in the afternoon in Lyon and reach Francheville (FSSP house on the outskirt of Lyons).
Return Friday morning 12 February 2010 from Lyons.
Our pilgrimage will be under the special protection of Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God and the Mother of priests as the anniversary of Her Apparitions in Lourdes will occur while we are still in Lyons. (Feb. 11th).

Location:
We will be based in the beautiful St Padre Pio House run by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Francheville (Lyons), less than an hour drive from Ars. Single room accommodation. Garden.

Scheduled:
A full day in Ars, the climax of our stay. Possibility of offering Holy Mass in Ars. Visit of the Curé’s presbytery. Veneration of his relics.
One day in Lyons, original Episcopal See of St Irenaeus: visit of the Basilica of Fourvières; prayer at the place of death of St Francis de Sales; visit of the Roman amphitheatre where the protomartyrs of Gaul SS. Polycarp, Blandina, Pothinus and others suffered in 117 a.D. On a lighter note, meal in a ‘bouchon’ (traditional Lyonnais restaurant cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouchon).
We will also have conferences on priestly spirituality, including the theology of the Mass, the EF Roman liturgy and prayer life.

Price (estimate):
About £150 for return train ticket London St Pancras-Lyons-London St Pancras (reduction possible if we travel as a group).
Alternatively: Easyjet direct return flight Stansted-Lyons-Gatwick: minimum price £51 (for group ticket of 15 passengers).
Accommodation will be very affordable in the FSSP house - rough estimate: £30/day with breakfast + 1 main meal at least, i.e. £120 for 4 full days (4 nights).
To be added: transport in Lyons and to Ars. Meals outside of the house (at least twice).

Liturgy: Possibility of offering private Mass daily in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite (please bring only your alb, biretta, cingulum and linens). Compline (or one other Hour per day) in the EF of the Roman rite (please bring EF breviary if you possess one).

Booking: please send a £120 cheque made payable to ‘FSSP ENGLAND’, posted to : Fr de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, RG2 0DH, Reading, Berkshire, UK. Please include your complete contact details in the booking.

Number of places available as of today: 13.

Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England
179 Elgar Rd, RG2 0DH, Reading, Berkshire, UK
Tel: +44 (0)118 987 5819 - E-mail: malleray@fssp.org -
Community: http://www.fssp.org.uk/ - Youth: http://www.juventutem.org/pages/intro.php - Culture: http://www.blogger.com/www.lartpourlame.com

Aid to the Church in Need Westminster Event

I`ve been asked to mention this event. I am always happy to help ACN and so here are the details.

Standing Together in Faith: Saturday, 17th October at Westminster Cathedral

The day commences at 10:30 with Sung Mass in Westminster Cathedral. Following registration His Grace, Archbishop Vincent Nichols will address the participants and lead us all in the Angelus. Speakers are : Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad, Pakistan, Father Martin Edwards, ACN’s Ecclesiastical Assistant, Regina Lynch – Project Director, Kõnigstein, John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need UK, Head of Press and Information and Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director of Aid to the Church in Need UK. The Event concludes with Prayer and Blessing at 15:45

Westminster Cathedral is just 5 minutes walk from Victoria Station, which can be reached by both mainline and underground trains (District, Circle and Victoria Lines). The Hall is on Ambrosden Avenue, which runs to the left of the Cathedral, when you are facing it from the Piazza. If you were thinking of coming by car, please note that parking is very restricted in the centre of London.

Contact: Michael Cowie on 02086615154 to secure your tickets


Why not also join us on 8th September for a rare opportunity to hear Patriarch Twal from Jerusalem!!
God bless


Michael

Michael Cowie
Area Secretaries Coordinator
Aid to the Church in Need
12-14 Benhill Avenue
Sutton
Surrey
SM1 4DA
Tel. (direct) 020-8661-5154

The English bishops` Ad Limina and Summorum Pontificum

An article on Fr Ray Blake`s blog has stirred me from my blogging inertia. He tells of a conversation with a ` leading Catholic layman` about the forthcoming visit of the English bishops to Rome in January and the likely discussions about the implementation of Summorum Pontificum. You can read about it here.

Also the Tablet today reveals that archbishop Vincent Nichols has written a letter to all participants in the August LMS training conference at London Colney which gives food for thought. Participants are not to `denigrate the ordinary form of Mass`. Fair enough, but I suppose their presence at a training conference for the Extraordinary Form would indicate that the Ordinary Form maybe does not satisfy them entirely. The article reports the archbishop as saying that anyone who does denigrate the ordinary form of the Mass ` is inexorably distancing themselves from the Church`. By the same logic, (as pointed out in the combox of WDTPRS blog) anyone who denigrates the extraordinary form could also be said to be inexorably distancing themselves from the Church.

Well, Summorum Pontificum gave to parish priests the ability to make the decision to celebrate the EF, either themselves privately or publicly at the request of a group. I don`t see that changing. Wouldn`t it be better if our authorities gave a bit of encouragement to those who seek to take advantage of the provisions of SP, who give up their time to learn how to say it and congratulate them on doing so rather than be seen to be dragging their feet and appearing rather nervous about the whole thing? It`s not going to go away.

UPDATE: As `motuproprio` points out in the combox this is only the Tablet`s take on the the forward by the archbishop. It will be useful to see the whole text rather than relying on the Tablet.

Of your charity...

...please say a prayer for the soul of Thomas McCreadie a promising art and photography student at our local Catholic comprehensive, whose requiem Mass took place today here at St Mary`s. He was eighteen years old and drowned while swimming off Whitley Bay. The story was in the news at the time of his death.

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine.

Changing Breviary

Eager as ever to take full advantage of the possibilities given by Summorum Pontificum, last week I took delivery of a set of 1962 breviaries from Southwell Books in the beautifully produced version by Nova et Vetera. I had been thinking about this for some time but the Ushaw conference and the FSSP retreat made my mind up.

I`m not sure I have got all the rubrics right at the minute. Where for example is the Gospel passage and commentary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost? I`ve searched the whole book and can`t find it. I looked at an older edition of the breviary from the 40`s and couldn`t find it there either. It`s also a pity that there is no second nocturn on a Sunday, so no patristic commentary on the readings from the first nocturn.

I switched over on the feast of Mary Magdalene. I say Matins and Lauds before Mass and Prime and Terce afterwards and that is working well at the minute. It`s hard to give any balanced opinion at the minute as there is still a novelty value in the whole thing. A disadvantage will be that the calendar for the breviary is very different from that for the Ordinary Form in which I say Mass most days but on the other hand it`s good to feel more connected to tradition. ( No doubt the Old Believer would tell me that the 1962 breviary is an abomination and no serious Catholic would contemplate anything other than the pre-Pius X breviary.)

I have always said the Latin version of the Paul VI breviary so I`m finding the odd differences in translation of the psalms quite interesting and mean to look them up and understand the differences. At this rate I may be blowing the dust off my Hebrew Bible although since it is twenty-two years since I read Hebrew seriously I don`t think I`ll remember much of it. Also I`m happy to work with the Urban VIII versions of the hymns and haven`t as yet found them hugely irritating as I don`t know them at all but might buy the supplement with the more ancient versions eventually.

Golden Jubilee

Tonight at 7.30pm Fr Elkin, parish priest of St Mary`s, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, will celebrate a sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form to mark his Golden Jubilee of priestly ordination. Father returned to celebrating the Mass of his ordination in the 1990`s. He was part of the rota for the Sunday Masses at St Dominic`s, Newcastle for a while and introduced the EF into his parish at Ryhope, Sunderland. He has continued this in Barnard Castle with a Sunday Mass in the EF. Father was also a tutor at the recent, magnificent, LMS training conference at Ushaw where on the second day he celebrated a Missa Cantata.

Ad multos annos!

FSSP Retreat

Last night I got back from a priests` retreat at Douai abbey in Berkshire which was given by Fr de Malleray of the FSSP. It was a very good week. We were only a small group, smaller than I imagined. It was good to see that 60% of the retreatants were former Ushaw students! Fr Michael Clifton was there, although not very well, as he explains on his own blog.

The first few conferences were on the nature of God, Man and the redemption before we were given reflections on the Ordinary of the 1962 missal. I`m glad I made notes as there were useful points which I hope to profit from in my own preaching. I must confess that I had imagined there was going to be something on St John Vianney but his role was more as a patron of the week and Fr de Malleray is considering doing something to do with Ars next year.

The retreat was silent so it wasn`t until yesterday after the retreat that we were able to have a good chant with Fr De Malleray and exchange stories about how Summorum Pontificum is being implemented. I won`t mention the other retreatants as they may not wish their identities to be revealed.

Apart from attending (Latin) vespers in the abbey we didn`t have much communication with the community apart from Br Christopher, the guest-master, who looked after us very well. It was rather complicated at times to ensure that we had the guest refectory to ourselves so that we could have reading during meals but on one occasion the other guests were treated to our reading of the Council of Trent on the Eucharist. I had hoped to talk with the abbot, Fr Geoffrey Scott, who is from Birtley (where I was a curate in 1989-1990), and who I`ve met enough times over the years for him to recognise me. We did manage to have a quick chat on the way to vespers on our first night however.

So it`s back to the parish. I will be blowing the dust off my copy of Blessed Columba Marmion`s Christ, the Ideal of the Priest, at which I made an unsuccessful stab on my pre-priesthood retreat at Ampleforth in 1988. We had readings from it at meals on the first day which I enjoyed.

As we were preparing to leave in convoy for lunch at the Berkshire Arms, I was sorry to have missed the chance to meet Fr Ray Blake who was at Douai that day. (I`ve used his picture of the abbey church.)

So all in all I`m looking forward to next year.

July 7th

Today is the second anniversary of the publication of Summorum Pontificum. It also sees the publication of a new papal encyclical on social teaching, Caritas in Veritate. Today also marks the 67th birthday of our new bishop, Seamus Cunningham, with whom I concelebrated a Mass at my old parish of St Joseph`s, Gateshead held to mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the church.

So quite a lot to celebrate for one day.

Norcia monks and the Extraordinary Form

You may have read elsewhere about the request of the Holy See to the young community of monks at Norcia in Italy, to celebrate the Roman rite in both forms. What caught my attention was this extract from the interview with Fr Cassian Folsom, the superior, regarding the nature of the two forms of the Roman rite:

The ordinary form stresses such elements as the participation of the faithful, the use of the vernacular, the ongoing development of the liturgy by the addition of new saints to the calendar, etc.: these are all very important. At the risk of oversimplifying, I would say that the ordinary form stresses rational understanding, speaking in prose, as it were. The extraordinary form provides rich food for the intellect also, but relies heavily on gesture, symbolism, intuition, silence, ritual action without words, speaking in poetry, you might say. Man knows both rationally and intuitively. He needs both prose and poetry. If the two usages, like two different cultures, can patiently live with each other over time, they can become friends.

More poetry please!

It will be interesting to see how the two forms will live side by side in the monastery. For more on the story of this foundation, here is the monastery`s website.

Dominus Est again

As I`ve probably mentioned, the next book for our parish reading group to digest is Dominus est by bishop Schneider of Kazakhstan, which concerms the method of receiving Holy Communion. Recently Leo Darroch, the president of Una Voce International, who lives in this diocese, told me he was going to Wigratzbad for the ordinations for the Fraternity of St Peter and as bishop Schneider was the celebrant he asked me if I would like to see if he could get the good bishop to sign my copy of his book. I was delighted and sent him the book. Here we see the bishop signing a copy of his book, as Leo and Joseph Shaw, LMS chairman, look on. Many thanks to Mark Miles for the photo. I`m looking forward to seeing what the parish reading group make of the book.

I see today Paix Liturgique reports that Cardinal Caffarra of Bologna is following the example of the Holy Father and has given instructions that communicants at his cathedral, in the basilica of St Petronius and the shrine of our Lady of St Luke, are to receive only on the tongue, to avoid grave abuses which have occurred. If you can follow Italian there is a video explaining this here. This video still shows people receiving on the hand and must pre-date the decree but it is interesting to see a Communion cloth being used.

The French version of the decreee states:

Dans tous les cas, étant donné la fréquence avec laquelle sont signalés des cas de comportements irrévérencieux dans l'acte de recevoir l'Eucharistie, nous disposons qu'à compter d'aujourd'hui dans l'église métropolitaine de S. Pietro,dans la basilique de S. Petronio et dans le sanctuaire de la B.V. de San Luca à Bologne les fidèles recevront le Pain Consacré uniquement des mains d'un ministre directement sur les lèvres.

The decree is dated the 27th April.

Maybe there will be more of this to come.

Longbenton Mass

In the end I would say it all went very well. There was a much better turnout than I had feared. with quite a number of people I didn`t recognise: I was told we had sixty people in the congregation. The ceremonies of the Mass went more smoothly than has sometimes been the case. The music was glorious with splendid contributions from the Schola and Cappella as well as our organist. Many of the choir and congregation stayed on for tea or wine afterwards. Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way. Now I`m being asked when the next big event will be!

Here are a few, somewhat fuzzy, photos. The vestments look brighter than they really are.

Solemn High Mass at Longbenton

Tonight there will be a Solemn High Mass at 7.30pm at SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton to mark the closing of the year of St Paul. I`ve been meaning to organise something to celebrate our patronal feast for a long time and the Year of St Paul provided the spur to urge me on. I am delighted that the schola will be joined by the Cappella Novocastriensis who will sing Byrd`s four part Mass and Ave Verum.

I`m very grateful to the cathedral for making available a red high Mass set and for advertising this event on their bulletin and website. Also to Madame Evangelista for drawing my attention to this. I hope we get a good turnout. I`m also grateful to Frs Dickson and Phillips for giving their time to act as deacon and subdeacon. I hope will have a few photos to put on this site.

Back to Ushaw

It was a great privilege to be the celebrant at the opening High Mass at the LMS training conference at Ushaw in April. I never thought it was something I would ever do. Tomorrow will see me returning to Ushaw for the EF Mass for the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge`s conference. I was originally booked to be subdeacon at a High Requiem Mass but now it is a Missa Cantata and I`m to be celebrant. I`ll be taking my favourite black vestment with me and am looking forward to hearing the chant.

Mass is at 10.15. There is some uncertainty as to whether it is open to everyone to attend: they may need to sign in for `fire purposes` I`m told.

LMS AGM

I was wondering how the LMS AGM went given that it has been a controversial year for the Society with its chairman and chaplain resigning but all seems to have passed over without incident. Here are some pictures from the Mass and a LMS report on what went on.

25 June 2009

* Latin Mass Society AGM and High Mass at Westminster Cathedral

The Latin Mass Society held its AGM on Saturday morning, 20 June, at the Royal Horticultural Society Conference Centre, Victoria, London. The Secretary, Mr Paul Beardsmore, reported on another very busy year for the LMS and the Revd Martin Edwards, parish priest of St Mary Magdalen’s, Wandsworth, London gave a well received lecture on the introduction of the Extraordinary Form into parish life following Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio.

This was followed by a lunch for the Committee and Regional Representatives of the LMS and their clerical guests.

In the afternoon, at 2.00 pm, the Rt Revd John Arnold, auxiliary bishop in Westminster, celebrated the LMS’s AGM High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for Our Lady’s Saturday at the High Altar in Westminster Cathedral. He was assisted by a congregation of several hundred. Bishop Arnold’s Assistant Priest was the Revd Andrew Wadsworth, the Deacon was Deacon Alan MacDole and the Sub-deacon was the Revd Martin Edwards. The Lay Clerks of the Cathedral sang Maurice Duruflé’s setting of ‘Messe Cum Jubilo’.

Bishop Arnold preached a thoughtful sermon linking the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Doctor Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman, said: ‘We are grateful to Archbishop Vincent Nichols for the help which his Westminster auxiliaries generously give to our arrangements for the Extraordinary Form, and especially to Bishop Arnold for the scrupulous and recollected way in which he celebrated for us. It is wonderful that the Extraordinary Form is now regarded as an integral part of diocesan life.’

. . . . ENDS . . . .

For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or James Murphy, LMS Office Manager, on (T) 020 7404 7284; (F) 020 7831 5585;
(E mail) thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk

Shopping for the Year of the Priest

For the year of St Paul I bought an icon from Pauline Books and Media to display in the Church. I would like to find one of St John Vianney for the Year of the Priest. I would also like a copy of one of the famous photos of St Therese of Lisieux to display too to prepare for the coming of her relics. A prayer card with St Therese`s prayer for priests would also be useful at this time.

However I`m having no luck. I did find a place in the USA but postage was $62.95 which seemed a lot.

If anyone knows where any of these things can be bought in the UK or Europe I`d be glad of the info.

UPDATE: 11.20 I have just discovered the website of the Carmelite book service which looks as if it may be useful.

Things you don`t expect to see: no. 3

This is the third in an occasional series which began with Fr Charles Briggs of Chislehurst on a camel in Tunisia. I had been meaning to post this for quite a while and now I see Frs Blake and Finigan have beaten me to it. However these pictures from the FSSR on the island of Papa Stronsay warmed my heart. I never thought to see the local bishop celebrating Mass in their church. Good to see a bishop who is a pastor to all his flock. Thank you bishop Moran.

Read more here.

Year of the Priesthood

As we all now know the Year for the Priesthood starts this Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. This weekend our bishop has sent a pastoral letter to alert the diocese to this special year and there will be a Mass at the cathedral on July 7th at 7pm to mark its opening. Unfortunately I can`t make that Mass as I have a prior commitment.

That day, at 12.05pm, also sees the bishop at my old parish of St Joseph`s Gateshead to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the church. I`m glad to say I will be able to make it on that occasion.

Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge at Ushaw

I think I have already mentioned that the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge are holding a weekend at Ushaw on 27th-28th June. You can read more about it here on their website. As you will see they are celebrating a High Requiem Mass in the extraordinary form on the Saturday at approximately 10.15am and an ordinary form Latin Mass on the Sunday at 11.15am. I`m looking forward to taking part as subdeacon on the Saturday. It`s getting harder to find singers of chant, in my experience, so if you think you would like to learn this is a great opportunity.

I was also very happy to see that this event is mentioned on the links page of the liturgy section of the diocesan website. Incidentally, the same page carried a mention of the Latin Mass Society`s recent Ushaw conference. I`m sorry I had failed to notice this as I generally only look at the main page.

A High Mass for the closing of the Pauline Year

I am pleased to say that the Cappella Novocastriensis have confirmed that they will be available to sing at SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton on June 29th at the High Mass at 7.30pm. They will sing Byrd`s Mass in Four Parts and also a motet as yet to be decided on.

If you are in the area and are sympathetic or curious about the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite then this should be a splendid occasion.

It will also be good, for once, to have a solemn celebration for the patronal festival.

More on the Cafod pilgrimage to Holy Island

I`ve been away for a few days down at the Aldeburgh festival and am catching up on news. I see there is a video of the somewhat controversial CAFOD pilgrimage on the diocesan website. The video doesn`t show the invited shaman leading any prayers so far as I can see. I was amused to see that a baldachino of sorts had been erected around the altar for Mass. I wish there were a few more in the diocese!

However the most useful comments I have so far seen are those of Madame Evangelista. You can find them here.

John Smeaton in Newcastle

John Smeaton, the National Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children will be the guest speaker at a pro-life meeting in the Tyneside Irish Centre on Wednesday July 1st at 7.30pm. He will describe SPUC`s new campaigns to resist euthanasia and against anti-life sex education in schools which seeks to give under-16s access to abortion and birth control drugs and devices without parental consent or knowledge.

All welcome.

Seminaries: the generation gap?

Thanks to Fr Ray Blake for noticing this address by Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, the former bishop of Angers. He is now Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, which oversees Seminary formation, as well as being Vice President of the Pontifical Work for Ecclesiastical Vocations and a member of The Commission for the Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood.

The address was given to rectors of pontifical seminaries and concerned priestly formation in a secular world.. It makes for stirring reading.

.... in fact, we have experienced or even fostered an extremely powerful self-secularization in most of the Western Churches.

The examples are many. Believers are ready to exert themselves in the service of peace, justice, and humanitarian causes, but do they believe in eternal life? Our Churches have carried out an immense effort to renew catechesis, but does not this catechesis itself tend to overlook the ultimate realities? For the most part, our Churches have embarked upon the ethical debates of the moment, at the urging of public opinion, but how much do they talk about sin, grace, and the divinized life? Our Churches have successfully deployed massive resources in order to improve the participation of the faithful in the liturgy, but has not the liturgy for the most part lost the sense of the sacred? Can anyone deny that our generation, possibly without realizing it, dreamed of a "Church of the pure," a faith purified of any religious manifestation, warning against any manifestation of popular devotion like processions, pilgrimages, etc.?

I enjoyed this bit:

Will the educators continue to cling to criteria of admission and selection that date back to their own time, but no longer correspond to the aspirations of the young? I was told the story of a French seminary in which adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament had been banned for a good twenty years or so, because it was seen as too devotional: the new seminarians had to struggle for a number of years to have it reinstated, while some of the professors preferred to resign in the face of something that they judged as a "return to the past"; by giving in to the requests of the younger men, they had the impression that they were renouncing what they had fought for their entire lives.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Well Kazakhstan may have been in the thoughts of those following the England football team today but for Catholics interested in liturgical renewal Kazakhstan means bishop Athanasius Schneider, famous for his little book, Dominus Est which looks at how Holy Communion has been distributed down the ages in the Catholic Church and gives good reasons as to why the reception of holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue best expresses the Church`s teaching.

I`m delighted to say that Dominus Est is the next book our parish reading group will be looking at once all the copies have arrived from Family Publications.

In the meantime here is the man himself talking about his book and the issues in a video released today by Gloria TV.

UPDATE 11.06.09 I have been told by one reader that she can`t see the video. Is this a general problem?

Diocesan News

From the website of the Hexham and Newcastle Education Service:

The latest meeting of the Diocesan Education Forum took place on June 4th 2009. Following an opening prayer Fr Sean Hall, Chairman of the Board of Education in the Diocese, welcomed everybody and invited Bishop Seamus to address the group.

The Bishop spoke about the need for formation and exploring what we mean by formation. He also spoke about the importance of, and need to be, “a praying people” and “a praying priesthood”. Commenting on the recent Priests’ Retreat he said the priest is to be both servant and leader, and pointed towards the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, who washed people’s feet and reached out to the people on the margins. There is a need for us all to be working together and moving out of our “comfort zone” and into service. A prophet is not someone who tells the future but someone who challenges and energises. We are all called to be prophets – it must however begin with prayer.

UPDATE 17.06.09 I have been informed that copyright rules prohibit the use of more than a short section of this item. Please click on the link above to read the rest of this report. The rest of it concerns the appointment of Fr Michael McCoy to various responsibilities including developing lay leadership of parishes in the diocese. In the subsequent discussion the useful question was raised ”Do we want to be a lamp or a mirror?”

Solemn High Mass for the end of the Year of St Paul

I am pleased to be able to announce that we will be able to have a Solemn High Mass at SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton on June 29th at 7.30pm to mark the end of the Year of St Paul. I am hoping that in addition to the schola, we will have a choir to sing Byrd`s four-part Mass. All I need to do now is to find a red High Mass set!

If it all comes together we may even manage to produce some pictures for this blog.

UPDATE 6.06.09 Have secured the loan of a red High Mass set (sans humeral veil). Waiting for the Capella Novocastriensis to confirm.

Another LMS Training Course

Today I received the following about the next LMS training course for priests:

2 June 2009

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

For Immediate Release

LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, St Albans, Herts

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS), in association with the Archdiocese of Westminster, is organising a residential training conference for priests wishing to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, Herts, the premier conference centre of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

The conference will run from Monday 24 August to Friday 28 August 2009 and will feature Traditional liturgies in London Colney’s magnificent Ninian Comper-designed chapel together with a Gregorian Chant schola and polyphonic choir.

Expert tuition in the celebration of Mass in the Usus Antiquior will be provided on a small group basis. There will be guest lecturers and all participants will receive 1962 Missals.

As well as daily Sung Mass, devotions will include Lauds, Benediction and Rosary.

The subsidised fee to participants is only £115.00 which includes full board and accommodation. Places are limited and priests are urged to register as soon as possible.

Further details and registration forms can be obtained from the LMS office (Tel: 020 7404 7284) or downloaded from the LMS website, www.latin-mass-society.org

Mark Johnson, lead organiser, said, “We are extremely pleased to have the backing of the Archdiocese of Westminster and Archbishop Vincent Nichols. This conference – our first at London Colney – builds on the success of our two previous conferences at Merton College, Oxford. I hope the laity will tell their priests about this wonderful opportunity to learn the Usus Antiquior in a welcoming and recollected environment.”

Latin Mass Society, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH
Tel: 020 7404 7284
E mail: thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk
Website: latin-mass-society.org

. . . . ENDS . . . .

For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or James Murphy, LMS Office Manager, on (T) 020 7404 7284;
(F) 020 7831 5585; (E mail) thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk


London Colney has a beautiful chapel but I don`t recall there being more than a couple of side altars but I could be wrong. [UPDATE I am wrong! See the comment by Discreet Observer.] I hope there is a good response and it is as great a success as Ushaw was.

Rumours are reaching the Forest of a bishop who is most concerned to know which of his priests went on the Ushaw conference so he can add them to his `blacklist`. Surely this can`t be true in these days of Summorum Pontificum? Sometimes it`s hard for those who are still stuck in the mindset of the 1970`s or 80`s. It`s like an ecclesiastical `Ashes to Ashes`!

Fortiter defendit triumphans?

Well maybe not!

( It didn`t really apply in 1644 either.)

Catholic Allah

On the other hand you may have seen the story on the BBC news site today about a court case in Malaysia regarding the use of `Allah` for God by the Catholic Church in that country. Muslims are bringing a case as they say that it is their word for God and can`t be used by anyone else. The problem is that it is the national word for `God`. It will be interesting to see how the case goes. Nice to see the preface being sung in the OF.



Visitors to Malta will know that in Maltese `Allah` is also the word for God and it did strike me as unusual when hearing that name used during Mass in the cathedral.

Cafod?

I see there is some trouble with Cafod reported in the Telegraph regarding its national director living free of charge in an MP`s second house. Nearer to home I have been puzzled by the forthcoming Cafod pilgrimage to Holy Island on June 13th. The excitement regards the involvement of Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a shaman of the Yanomami índios in Brazil. Davi will be leading the `liturgy at key points along the way with reflections from his own tradition, focussing on how we live in harmony with God's creation.`

Now I know that Vatican II said we could find evidence of the Holy Spirit acting outside of the Church in all those who seek what is good and true but I am still puzzled how a Catholic pilgrimage will have its liturgy lead by a pagan priest. What would St Aidan have said, let alone St Wilfrid?

Ascension Thursday

Just to say, as I was too late for the LMS listings and I even failed to get it in the St Mary`s newsletter this week, there will be a Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the Ascension tomorrow night at SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton. This will be at 7pm and will be a Low Mass.

The obligation for the Ascension has of course been moved by the bishops to following Sunday.

A Mass for Corpus Christi, in the Extraordinary Form, will take place on Thursday 11th June at 12 noon at St Mary`s Forest Hall.

A Good Priest

Today the Canon Law Society`s newsletter arrived in the post. I had a quick glance through it after Mass. In an article by Fr Jerry Pokorsky of the diocese of Arlington in the USA about the financial administration of parishes I came across this which I liked:

As parishes expand [this bit doesn`t apply here!] and the number of priests decline, there is a great temptation to downplay the priest`s sacramental role and to accept his managerial functions [except that in some places some laity want to take on the managerial and sacramental roles, so what is a priest meant to be then?]. Instead of defining himself as the primary teacher of the faith and mediator of Christ in the celebration of the sacraments, he defines himself as the "enabler in lay ministry" [ This was the vision of the priesthood I remember being given at Ushaw by a now senior cleric back in the 1980`s!]. Instead of preparing parishioners for the sacraments (conducting baptism classes, marriage preparation etc) and visiting sick, he organises teams of "lay ministers" for the jobs.

Hence, the definition of a "good priest" is a man who knows how to delegate his sacramental duties to the laity and is a great administrator and fundraiser. Conversely, the definition of a "good Catholic" narrows to include only those who "do ministry" rather than those who bring Christ to their homes and workplaces as virtuous parents and employees. But anyone who has studied the documents of the Second Vatican Council realizes that this is exactly the opposite of the Church`s intention. It is critical to the mission of the Church not to disassociate priestly ministry from a priest`s personal administering of the sacraments.

Three cheers. This explains why I always feel to say the least uneasy when we hear that "lay ministry" is to be promoted. Minor orders would be fine but that isn`t what is usually meant. I am quite happy to recruit lay people to help with sacramental preparation and believe it is particularly useful when dealing with marriage but I believe that the priest must be involved too and guide the whole process. There is always a somewhat neglected Vatican document On Certain Questions Regarding The Collaboration Of The Non-Ordained Faithful In The Sacred Ministry Of The Priest of 1997.

Blogger`s Block

Ok I`ll finally admit it: inspiration seems to have dried up. Not that there`s plenty happening but unlike some blogs I don`t aim to cover every new story in the Catholic world. If it`s on a couple of other blogs I don`t see any point me reporting it too unless I have a particular insight that I think may be useful.

One thing that has been going around in my head is the notion that `you have to be comfortable to pray`. I keep asking myself about this. It`s because a priest friend of mine told me he had visited another priest who had just moved into his new appointment and had had major work done to the house and a new set of carpets. It is not unusual for a priest when he inherits a new presbytery to have it decorated. I did it here. Pope Benedict had major work done to his apartments before moving in. We all like to make a place our own. I`d like to do more to the church too but that is much more difficult. I have many ideas for making St Mary`s look more like a place to pray in than a school hall but some people like the school hall look and was it was all just completed a few years before I got here at great expense.

However what intrigued me was that my friend was told by his colleague that `You have to be comfortable to pray`. Interesting. I thought that it is often when we are uncomfortable when we pray most urgently. There are no atheists in fox holes etc. What would John the Baptist have made of this statement? or St Anthony of Egypt? Or St John Vianney? Etc, etc... I suppose this is the thinking behind the carpeting of our churches to make them look as comfortable as possible. While I`m not saying that being uncomfortable is good thing in itself, the attitude that our religion should not stretch us or challenge us is, I think, part of the reason for the falling away from the faith of so many. If religion makes demands and we rise to those demands because we believe it to be true it will have deeper roots. The religions that are on the rise today are those which make demands of their followers and claim to be true.

Maybe I should get back to having bloggers` block.

Priests` Retreat

Today I received an email with information about a retreat for priests `to celebrate the Year of the priesthood with St John Mary Vianney, Curé of Ars`. The theme is `The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and our priestly identification to Christ.` It starts on Monday 13th July 2009, 3pm and ends at 12 noon Thursday 16th July 2009. It is organised by Fr de Malleray of the FSSP and priests will be able to celebrate their Masses in the Extraordinary Form.

This blog has been rather quiet since the Ushaw meeting which had a profound affect on me and, I know, on others. This looks like a good event to follow on from that conference although this is purely a retreat and not a training session for the Extraordinary Form.

Any priests interested in going can book by sending a £15 cheque made payable to ‘FSSP England’ to : Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, RG2 0DH, Reading, Berkshire, UK.

The full cost is £107 - to cover:

1-Accommodation: single room with en-suite bathroom, full board: £92, full board, including VAT.
2-Retreat Master’s expenses: £15.

Year of the Priesthood: Rome conference for English-speaking clergy

At the Ushaw Conference I announced that there would be conference for English-speaking priests in Rome in January to celebrate the forthcoming `Year of the Priesthood`. There was quite a lot of interest from priests at the conference. Today the official announcement has been made and the details can be found on conference website. Here is the press release:

8 May 2009 – On this 223rd birthday of St. John Baptiste-Marie Vianney, patron of parish priests, the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy and the (American) Confraternity of Catholic Clergy announce a joint conference of their two associations for a special seminar in Rome, January 4 – 8, 2010. This historic combined meeting of priests and deacons is in response to the Holy Father’s designation of 2010 as the Year for Priests and invoking the patronage of the Cure of Ars, Saint John Vianney. Both groups were established to foster and promote ongoing formation (spiritual, theological, pastoral and human) of the clergy in a fraternal setting, which was called for by the Second Vatican Council and highly encouraged in Canon Law. One facet is an annual national gathering whereby lectures and conference talks are given by reputable speakers known for their orthodoxy and loyalty to the Magisterium. The 2010 meeting in the Eternal City is the first joint assembly for both confraternities and will be conveniently located near the Vatican at the Casa Pastor Bonus. Any and all Catholic priests and deacons from any English speaking country of the world are cordially invited even if not a member of either the A.C.C.C. or C.C.C. National Chairman, Rev. Michael Kennedy, PP, (Australia) and President, Rev. John Trigilio, Jr, PhD, (U.S.A.) enthusiastically urge their members to honor Pope Benedict’s Year for Priests by coming to Rome in January 2010 to spend time in prayer, study, and sacerdotal fraternity. More information will be made available at www.yearforpriests-clergyconferencerome2010.org and at the respective websites: www.australianccc.org and at www.catholic-clergy.org or by contacting the media spokesman in Australia, Reverend Father Nicholas Dillon on (+613) 97924422.

Maybe a result of this conference will be the establishment of a UK branch of the Confraternity of Catholic clergy. There is an interesting list of speakers arranged with Mgr Marini, Fr Lang, and archbishop Burke scheduled to take part. Provision will be made for priests to celebrate in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite.

Benedict XVI: Bishops must be near their priests

If you`ve never been to Ushaw....

..here are some more pictures.

Here is the high altar:

A view from the ante-chapel:

The English martyrs` picture in the cloister:

It is so sad that only 20 students rattle around in a building made to accomodate 300. In my time in the 80`s there were over 160 students. `Nous devons refonder l`eglise` as I think a Canon of Gap said to me on the Chartres pilgrimage a few years ago.

Many thanks to Leo Darroch again for the photos.

Sad News

The Catholic Truth Society has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. When I was at Ushaw I remember a seminarian who always referred to it as the `Catholic Lies Society` because, he said, if you compared its publications before the Council with those after, the things it had assured you would never change it now sought to demonstrate were open to change. However in recent years the CTS has produced some impressive stuff: I enjoyed the Evangelium course and the schools RE syllabus, The Way, The Truth and The Life. This is a vast improvement on the Here I Am course used in most Catholic schools. It comes with the imprimatur and approval of the former archbishop of Birmingham. I had hoped when we got a former priest of Birmingham to be our bishop that he might have promoted the course but unfortunately, in his short episcopate, that didn`t happen. Some have said that The Way, The Truth and The Life is deficient for use in schools. I hope they have told the future archbishop of Westminster.

This makes it all the more sad that we will soon be losing the Catholic Truth Society shop in Newcastle. I shall miss it very much. It closes on May 8th. That leaves the Pauline Book shop at the cathedral as the only Catholic bookshop in Newcastle. It is not as accessible to the average shopper in Newcastle as the CTS site was just off Northumberland St., the main shopping street.

At least in these days of the internet there are always Southwell Books and Family Publications as well as the CTS website to provide sources of useful Catholic material.

Ushaw 2009, a few more.

Here are photos of the Fathers relaxing, eating and one of them listening to a talk in the hall. Also a photo of the procession out of the chapel. Thanks to Leo Darroch for the pictures.

I loved the daily routine of last week. In the combox Fr Elkin has written interestingly about life as he knew it at Ushaw in the 50`s. I enjoyed having sung Lauds and Vespers every day and a sung daily Mass. My enthusiasm for the religious life which has lain dormant since I left the novitiate of the Discalced Carmelites in 1983 came back to life! I remember at the time wondering whether I shouldn`t be a Benedictine rather than a Carmelite. Too late to worry about it now. Here are the pictures.

Mass at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Newcastle

Tonight there will be a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the chapel of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Westmorland Road, Newcastle at 7pm. This is in response to a request from a group of residents in the home. It has taken two and a half years of negotiation to bring this about so we hope all goes well. Thanks to David O`Neill for working to bring this about.

Madame Evangelista

I`m delighted to see Madame Evangelista is back. You can find her new blog here. The first few posts are a little on the ranting side as Madame admits. (I`m glad to see Forest Murmurs manages to get a vote of confidence however.) As usual there is plenty of food for thought and Madame offers an interesting perspective on Catholic life.

Schola Borealis

Just a reminder that the Schola Borealis will be singing at Brinkburn in Northumberland next weekend when they present a day of Benedictine office.

O BLESSED CROSS!

A GREGORIAN CHANT WORKSHOP
AT BRINKBURN PRIORY
ON SATURDAY 2ND MAY
(10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)


MUSIC FROM THE RICH BENEDICTINE
HERITAGE CONCLUDING WITH FIRST
VESPERS OF THE FINDING
OF THE HOLY CROSS

LED BY THE SCHOLA BOREALIS
ALL WELCOME, WHETHER EXPERIENCED
OR COMPLETE BEGINNERS
THE WORKSHOP IS FREE BUT THERE IS AN ADMISSION CHARGE TO THE ENGLISH HERITAGE SITE
FURTHER DETAILS FROM DOROTHY ALLEN
TEL: 0191-520 3231OR BY E-MAIL FROM: alan@scottishgregorian.org.uk

After dinner

The Fathers and other conference members in song after the formal dinner at Ushaw on 22/04/09!

Private Masses at Ushaw

I have taken these from the Middlesborough LMS blog for anyone who may not have seen them there. Many thanks to Roydosan.

More pictures from Ushaw

The first two are from the High Mass on Monday:





Fr Elkin, a former student at the college and parish priest of Barnard Castle, celebrates Missa Cantata of St Anselm on Tuesday.


The sacristy ready for private Masses on wednesday

More when I get them. Thanks to Leo Darroch (LMS committee member and president of the International Federation Una Voce) for the photographs.

LMS Conference at Ushaw

Words can`t express how marvellous this week at Ushaw has been. I realise that part of this for me was that having been a student there for five years I never thought to see St Cuthbert`s chapel and the other altars used for the Extraordinary Form Mass. Nor did I ever expect to celebrate a High Mass on the high altar.

There was so much to enjoy: coming down in the mornings and seeing a hive of activity in the sacristy as priests got ready to say their private Masses or others returned from their altars; seeing the Masses in progress as I made my way to an altar, singing the offices of Lauds and Vespers; finally seeing the throne above the high altar used for the Blessed Sacrament during Benediction; the company of about thirty like-minded priests; the dedication of the altar servers; the beauty of the chant; the wonderful organ playing of Peter Locke; Byrd`s four-part Mass today; the fabulous vestments provided by Richard Luzar; the good food and the glorious weather on Monday and Wednesday. I can`t wait to do it all again next year.

Oh yes there was teaching as well. I was teaching an advanced Low Mass group. It is over twenty years since I studied the rubrics so I found it as useful for myself as I hope my group of three found it. I discovered I`d been making quite a few mistakes!

Well done the Latin Mass Society, and especially Paul Waddington, for all his work in making it all happen.

To Ushaw

On a brighter note I am looking forward very much to the week ahead at Ushaw. Twenty-one priests have signed up for the LMS training course and I look forward to a week with good company. The first item on the timetable is Solemn High Mass tomorrow at 11am and I have the privilege of being celebrant: I never thought I`d see the day when I would do this at the high altar in St Cuthbert`s chapel.

During the week I was contacted by the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge`s organiser of their study weekend at Ushaw in June where I`ll be subdeacon at another High Mass, so that is something else to look forward to.

Let`s hope the LMS conference goes very well and becomes an annual event.

Easter and Holy Week: reaction

Last week I was pleasantly surprised by how many people in the parish came forward and said how much they enjoyed the music at the Easter Masses. This week a very nice lady in the nicest possible way told me she though it was terrible and why couldn`t there have been a Gloria and Sanctus that everyone could join in, like today when we had the Salazar Gloria? Apparently 80% of people in the parish agree with her. (Given that `Chant Sunday` is one Sunday a month that means that the 20% who do like it get 25% of the available Sunday Masses so that seems ok.)

I sighed. Why can there not be some give and take? Why can people not be tolerant of the likes of others and try to accommodate them rather than seek to eliminate anything that is not to their liking. As parish priest I give the green light to all kinds of things I don`t find to my taste but which I recognise are important to others. We have plenty of music with guitar but once a month we have some chant, which, as yet, people don`t join in. Previous to my appointment here this wasn`t a problem as I had a weekly Latin Mass and left the OF Masses alone. That made me happy and those who didn`t want to go to the Latin Mass had the OF Masses to go to. (Although it should be said I had constant pressure from those who regarded the presence of the EF Mass in their parish as a grave embarrassment and they did their best to stop it. However while it was decided to move me, the EF Mass continues in the parish and last Sunday even replaced the 9am English Mass, which if I`d done would have produced a deluge of letters to bishop`s house.)

However it does get rather wearing but I`m afraid I won`t be put off and hope that one day ears and hearts may be opened to the beauty of Gregorian chant.

Easter and Holy Week

I have just about recovered from the last week sufficiently to drag myself to the computer keyboard. According to the Tablet this week I shouldn`t even have the time to do that. Robert Mickens, the Rome correspondent, has this little outburst about priest bloggers:

`..it is extraordinary that ordained ministers can find so much free time and energy to "feed a blog". Is it possible that they have no housebound, hospitalised or imprisoned parishioners in need of their presence and ministry? It is also extraordinary that their bishops allow this. But then again we are living in extraordinary times.`

This is in the context of the recent happenings in Manila where the Vatican has rebuked Cardinal Rosales for his extremely restrictive interpretation of Summorum Pontificum. Mickens sees Rome`s intervention as a response to the fuss created in the blogosphere rather than coming from the diocese of Manila itself. However I don`t think he has this humble blog with its 200 readers a day in his sights. Half an hour every few days is all it takes to run. Our bishops last year appeared to give their approval to priest bloggers.

Holy Week went well. Alan and Bruce from the Schola Gregoriana of Scotland led Tenebrae. We had quite a good turn out for Good Friday Tenebrae. The Good Friday EF service attracted a good group of singers but only a small congregation. I know it was somewhat short notice but I thought that out of all those who express an interest in the traditional Roman rite in the diocese a few more might have come. While the 1962 Good Friday has its usual oddities (that Pater Noster said in unison drives me wild) on the whole I find myself agreeing with Fr Hunswicke on this as on so many things.

I was determined this year to find a rattle for the Triduum. I went to Fenwick`s in Newcastle thinking they would be bound to have one. No luck. I wanted one of those old fashioned football rattles but didn`t really expect to find one in a sportshop so thought any rattle would do and scoured Eldon Square thinking that I was sure I`d seen a Mothercare there years ago. I found the Early Learning Centre and bought two garish rattles for £3 each which the servers enjoyed using. However I have since done a simple Google search for `football rattle` and found these for £1.99 each, so next year will be better. Our altar servers do like having things to do.

The OF Easter vigil went much better than it ought to as I hadn`t given any thought to the music imagining that it was all in hand only to find out, on Saturday lunchtime, this was not the case. Fortunately the Alan and Bruce proved very adaptable. Bruce made up some responsorial psalm responses and taught them to the congregation before the vigil. It really went very well. On Easter Sunday morning, as it co-incided with the monthly `chant Sunday` we were well equipped to provide chant at the OF Parish Mass. We had the introit `Resurrexi`, Kyrie, Gloria, sung responsorial psalm, English version of O filii et filiae at the offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Now the Green Blade Riseth at Communion and Thine be the Glory to end. The church was very full and I only heard positive comments afterwards although I was worried that this might be more Latin than would prove acceptable.

However it was somewhat draining. Glorious weather on Easter Monday made for a relaxing day part of which was spent tidying up the flower beds with our parish gardening team.

Happy Eastertide.

More Archbishop Nichols

This is very late but I`ve been rather tied up with Tenebrae and sick Communions and confessions as well as the usual Triduum. I thought this interview yesterday with the archbishop yesterday gave hope. Yes, he side-stepped the difficult question of the `husband with Aids` case but his response to Mr Blair`s attempt to lecture the Pope was worth waiting for. Particularly enjoyable was his statement that he will follow Pope Benedict: we wait to see if that includes the liturgical agenda. Perhaps one of the more hopeful recent episcopal appointments?

Funeral Mass for victims of Italian earthquake

I was interested to see that, according to the BBC, there will be a requiem Mass celebrated by cardinal Bertone on Good Friday for the victims of the recent earthquake. I don`t ever recall hearing of a Mass being celebrated on Good Friday before.

May they rest in peace.

More Lindisfarne Gospels

The picture I used for the post on the Lindisfarne Gospels gave rise to quite a few comments as to why the lion, symbol of St Mark, was accompanied by the words `imago leonis` as if it wasn`t obvious. Here`s the picture of St Matthew.

The bad news is that the symbolic figure of a man is accompanied by the words `imago hominis`. I`ve no idea why this is necesssary. Is there an expert on Anglo-Saxon art out there who can provide some enlightenment? And who is that peeping out from behind the curtain?

Ok, something about archbishop Nichols

Rebecca asks why I haven`t posted anything on the appointment of archbishop Nichols. So here goes. Here`s a video from the press conference. I enjoyed the first half in particular.

So that`s where it was!

Hardly a day goes by in St Mary`s presbytery without the parish priest spending time hunting for something he`s lost. It`s usually the diary but not always. Last night I spent half an hour looking for my car key until I began to think where I`d last seen it and decided that the best place to look was in a pile of papers on a chair in the kitchen and there it was.

So I have a lot of sympathy for people who lose things. In today`s Times there is a story of how the Turin Shroud was lost for over a hundred years but recent research has now revealed where it was: the Templars had it. The Vatican is backing up the story in L`Osservatore Romano:

Barbara Frale, a researcher in the Vatican Secret Archives, said the Shroud had disappeared in the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, and did not surface again until the middle of the fourteenth century. Writing in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Dr Frale said its fate in those years had always puzzled historians.

However her study of the trial of the Knights Templar had brought to light a document in which Arnaut Sabbatier, a young Frenchman who entered the order in 1287, testified that as part of his initiation he was taken to “a secret place to which only the brothers of the Temple had access”. There he was shown “a long linen cloth on which was impressed the figure of a man” and instructed to venerate the image by kissing its feet three times.

Now to relax after a long Palm Sunday.

Ushaw throws light on Henry VIII

Another Telegraph story. A prayer roll, kept as Ushaw since the mid-nineteenth century and unknown to Tudor historians, is going on loan to the British Library. It reveals the sincerity of the young King`s Catholic faith. Here`s an extract from the article:

Dr Starkey said: "I knew nothing of its existence until I began my research for the exhibition, so it has been a very exciting discovery.

"Many academic historians have long argued that Henry was sceptical of religion from his youth, and that this scepticism ultimately led to the break with Rome and the Reformation.

"But what we have here, for the very first time, is absolute concrete evidence to the contrary. The Ushaw roll shows just how conservative and pious he was as a young man and how he was, in fact, two very different men before and after his divorce.

Good morning!

I have never started Mass by saying `Good morning` after making the sign of the cross. Sometimes I have been asked why I don`t do it. Well, because it brings the sacred liturgy down to the level of a purely secular encounter. I can hardly wait for the new ICEL translation to come into force where we will have the greeting`The Lord be with you`: `And with your spirit`. It will be worth it for that alone.

Now I see that I have been getting it right all these years after all. According to the Telegraph there has been a meeting for priests in the diocese of Leeds where it has all been explained. Sounds great. Will we be due such a meeting in Hexham and Newcastle? Is this something that is doing the rounds?

Here is an extract from the Telegraph`s report. Yes, the debate has been going on a long time about whether we are `doing a cabaret or are we actually celebrating the Eucharist`


A spokesman for the diocese said: "The review of the liturgy is looking at whether there are elements of the service that have become a bit too distracting.

"People might argue that if you go in to a house, you say 'hi', but the priest is not going in to a house. He is going in to a sacred service. We need to emphasise that the priest is president of the community and is presiding at the service.

"It is a debate that has been going on in the Church for a long time – are we doing a cabaret or are we actually celebrating the Eucharist?

"The fear is that if some guidance is not given and general decisions are not put down, the interpretation of the liturgy leads to unsuitable things, like strobe lights and girls in hotpants. The aim of the new translation is to bring more dignity to the service."

Holy Week at SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton

For anyone who was wondering whether there will be any Extraordinary Form events this year at Longbenton I can confirm that Tenebrae will be sung at 10am on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Also there will be an EF Good Friday service at 5pm. Many thanks to our Scottish friends for making this possible.